C&CZ day out: Thursday July 14

Quiet keyboards at renewal computer labs HG00.023 and HG00.153

During the summer break the PCs in the computer labs TK023 (HG00.023) and TK153 (HG00.153) will be replaced by new ones, of the type type Dell OptiPlex 7440 AIO with 24-inch Full-HD screen, a Core i5 6500 (3.2GHz,QC) processor, 1x8GB memory and 512GB SSD hard disc. In order to reduce noise disturbance, especially during exams relatively quiet Cherry Stream 3.0 keyboards have been chosen. For other places where many keyboards are used in the same room, this will be a good choice too.

Printers on ground floor will be switched to Péage

After the test of Péage on two MFP's, we expect to switch all MFP's on the ground floor and mezzanine of the Huygens building from the C&CZ print system to the RU wide Péage early August. The other KMs follow shortly thereafter. C&CZ will maintain FNWI-specific instructions at the C&CZ Péage page.

Free printbudget for testing of Péage

In the next months, the
C&CZ managed Konica Minolta MFP's
will be transferred to the RU wide print/copy/scan system Péage.
Students and staff of the Faculty of Science are requested to test this, in order to tackle problems in an early stage. To encourage this, the first dozens of these that register at the Science Postmaster will receive free Péage budget when they share their experiences after testing. One Péage MFP has been available for several years near the cafetaria in the Huygens building. During the test, another one is placed in the central street near wing 5 on the second floor. After the test, the first group KM's to be switched to Péage are located on the ground floor and mezzanine.
C&CZ will maintain FNWI-specific instructions at the C&CZ Péage page.

HP laptop battery recall program

HP announced a recall program for laptop batteries that may overheat and pose a fire hazard. The batteries were sold in the period between March 2013 and August 2015. If you bought an HP laptop or battery in that period, it is wise to [check whether the battery should be replaced.

Filemaker 14/15 Pro and Server Advanced on Install network share

New versions of Filemaker Pro and of Filemaker Server Advanced, 14 and 15, for Windows (32- and 64-bit) and Mac are available on the Install network share. The license permits the use on university computers. License codes can be obtained from C&CZ helpdesk or postmaster. For home PCs, the software is available through Surfspot.

Discontinuation of authenticated network outlets in Library of Science and on mezzanine

From late 2013, a number of authenticated network outlets were available in the reading room of the Library of Science and on the mezzanine above the restaurant. Since the improvement of the wireless network (eduroam) in 2015, these outlets have hardly been used. Therefore C&CZ and the ISC have decided to deactivate them as of Monday June 6, 2016. After that, the associated Qmanage server will be shut down.

New version of Mathematica (10.4.1)

A new version of Mathematica (10.4.1) has been installed on all C&CZ managed Linux systems, older versions can still be found in /vol/mathematica. The installation files for Windows, Linux and Apple Mac can be found on the Install-disk, also for older versions of Mathematica. Departments that take part in the license can request installation and license info from C&CZ.

Phasing out svn service: use GitLab

As of june 1st, we will shut down our Subversion server. Only a small number of users have active repositories on the subversion server. GitLab is offered as an alternative service. Users of svn.science.ru.nl and svn.cs.ru.nl are requested to move their repositories. Instructions on how to proceed can be found on our Subversion page.

Encrypt your laptop: don't be the source of a data breach

Loss and theft of laptops are a common problem. If a lost laptop contains personal data this is considered a data breach that must be reported and can possibly lead to a fine for Radboud University. To prevent data breaches and fines, we strongly encourage you to encypt the hard disk of your laptop. This can be done easily, for Windows with BitLocker or VeraCrypt, for Mac with FileVault and for Linux with VeraCrypt. The C&CZ helpdesk can give advice.

Matlab R2016a available

The latest version of Matlab, R2016a, is available for departments that have licenses. The software and license codes can be obtained through a mail to postmaster for those entitled to it. The software can also be found on the install-disc. All C&CZ-managed Linux machines will soon have this version installed, an older version (/opt/matlab-R2015b/bin/matlab) is still available temporarily. The C&CZ-managed Windows machines will not receive a new version during the semester to prevent problems with version dependencies in current lectures. The R2015b release was the last version for 32-bit Windows. R2016a supports 64-bit Windows, but not 32-bit Windows.

Maintenance network switches April 4th 2016

On Monday evening, April 4th, 2016 from 10:30 to 12:00 PM there will be maintenance on the network switches at FNWI. During this time slot the wired and wireless network will be unavailable for some time at the locations Huygens, Linnaeus, FELIX, Nanolab, A1-basement, Logistic Center, Goudsmit, Experimental Garden, Mercator 1/2/3, UBC and Day-care Center. In HFML however the network will be available.
We advise to check which systems or set-ups might be affected by this and if possible shift network activity to a different time slot. You also might think about systems with alerts via Internet.

IPv6 pilot project

C&CZ and ISC Networks jointly started a pilot project with IPv6 networks early 2016. The aim of the project is to gain knowledge on and experience with IPv6 in order to implement it successfully on all campus networks. Currently there are two dual-stack Vlans, 1 for clients and 1 for servers. Since this is a pilot, no guarantees are given and IPv6 connectivity can be shut down for changes and maintenance. One expected change is the moving of the SURFnet IPv6 connection from the Huygens building to the Forum (ISC building). Until then, only outlets in the FNWI buildings can be connected to this network. Joining the pilot is thus only possible at the moment through C&CZ Networks, , for outlets in FNWI buildings.

Move to RU print system Peage

C&CZ and the ISC are preparing the replacement of the C&CZ printing system by the RU-wide Peage printing system, that can be used by students some years now. Once staff and guests can also use Peage, the C&CZ printing system can be phased out. The move is expected to take place from April. Peage benefits include: follow-me-printing and Scan-to-Me scanning. A disadvantage is that one can not have different budget groups. Charging employees for the costs will be done through the account (kostenplaats) of the chief appointment. The Konica Minolta printer in the restaurant of the Huygens building is a Peage printer already. If Peage is further implemented, we will start with the Konica Minolta printers on the ground floor of the Huygens building. After the ground floor, we will continue with the other floors and finally with the buildings around Huygens.

Science SLURM compute cluster: using idle nodes

The SLURM configuration of the cn-cluster has been changed. This gives jobs of owners high priority in their own partition (on their own nodes) and it makes it possible for all users to use all nodes with low priority. Next to that, all users can submit jobs to run on the C&CZ purchased node, with shorter running jobs getting higher priority.

Compute clusternode for general FNWI use

In order to facilitate FNWI departments that don't have their own clusternodes, but that incidentally have computing needs, C&CZ has purchased a cn-clusternode. The original reason for C&CZ to buy this computer server actually was to help departments phase out old clusternodes that are much less energy efficient (performance per Watt). The C&CZ clusternode is a Dell PowerEdge R730 with 2 processors (10-core Xeon E5-2660V3 at 2.6 GHz) and 256 GB memory.

Don't become the source of a data breach yourself!

In order not to become the source of a data breach yourself, it is wise to consider what personal information you have of others (colleagues, students, ...). If you do not really need this information, deleting it is the safest option. Encrypting personal data, e.g. by using the free software 7zip (open source) or VeraCrypt, both available for Windows/Linux/MacOSX, is a good choice too, especially if you have the data on a mobile data carrier, such as a laptop or a USB stick. The filesystem of smartphones/tablets/laptops can often be encrypted too (Windows, Android, iPad/iPhone). Furthermore in case of theft or loss, these can often be remotely wiped (Android, iPad/iPhone). Reports of a data breach can be done at C&CZ, but also 24/7 at the ISC IT Helpdesk, tel: (024-36)22222 / e-mail: .

Dell/Intel HPC code optimization event Amsterdam

January 14, 2016, Dell is organizing a high performance (HPC) community event in Amsterdam. Martin Hilgeman (Dell) will talk about optimization of software, Laurent Duhem (Intel) about developer tools. Interested employees and students may register for the event at the event's website. Topics as parallellization, GPU's and co-processors will be discussed.

MS Visio and MS Project removed from pcs

Because the grace period for the use of MS Visio and MS Project ends January 1, 2016, this software will be removed from C&CZ Managed pcs. Employees wanting to stay or start using Project and/or Visio should contact C&CZ for a license that must be paid for per installation.

Data breaches must be reported and will be fined

As of January 1, 2016, organizations are obliged by law to report data leaks. If you notice that you have access to personal data that you shouldn't have, you have to report that, e.g. to C&CZ and/or CERT-RU. If you yourself are working with personal data, you need to do that securely. Unsecure handling of personal data could lead to a huge fine. In the near future, extra attention will be given to informing and involving the RU community w.r.t. this issue.

New version of OriginLab (2016, 9.3)

A new version (2016, 9.3) of OriginLab, software for scientific graphing and data analysis, can be found on the Install-disk. The license server has been upgraded to this version. Departments that take part in the license can request installation and license info from C&CZ, also for standalone use. Installation on C&CZ managed PCs still has to be planned. Departments that want to start using OriginLab should contact C&CZ.

New version of Mathematica (10.3.0)

A new version of Mathematica (10.3.0) has been installed on all C&CZ managed Linux systems, older versions can still be found in /vol/mathematica. The installation files for Windows, Linux and Apple Mac can be found on the Install-disk, also for older versions of Mathematica. Departments that take part in the license can request installation and license info from C&CZ.

Watch out! Scammers send mail resembling a picture sent from a smartphone

Early this week, many employees received an email with the subject "img", as entire content "Sent from my Lenovo" and as attachment malware with a name like "IMG_0112201135_2015 JPEG.cab". A ".cab" file is a compressed archive, similar to a zip file. Because people on Windows PCs usually do not see file extensions, this seems to be a picture (JPEG) to them, but it is a "....JPEG.exe". Double clicking on the fake picture infects the computer by executing the ".exe". Therefore C&CZ changed the MIMEDefang filter on the Science mailserver to remove ".cab" attachments from mails, as has been done for years with other dangerous extensions like ".exe". When a user fell for this malware all kinds of files were encrypted by the malware and the user was notified about a ransom that had to be paid to decrypt the files. This could be fixed by reinstalling the PC and restoring a backup of before the encryption. As of today, this malware is also detected by F-Secure. Idea: change your Windows settings not to hide file extensions.

Digital testing/exams in a safe browser environment in the computer labs

It is now possible to do digital testing (take exams) in the C&CZ managed computer labs. Various question/answer forms are supported, at the moment mainly open questions and multiple choice. Please contact C&CZ for further information.

New VPN: vpnsec.science.ru.nl

A new VPN service, with server vpnsec.science,ru.nl, based on IPsec is available. We intend to have all users moved over to the new VPN before March 1, 2016 and then terminate the old VPN based on PPTP.

Eduroam SMS code for guests through mailinglist

Displaying the daily changing eduroam Visitor Access (eVA) SMS code on the Huygens information screens will be stopped at the request of SURFnet. With this code guests could connect to the guest part of the wireless network eduroam without help from others. C&CZ has developed an alternative: the code can be mailed daily to e.g. secretaries of departments of the Faculty of Science. This can be requested by mail to postmaster. Employees who want to give wifi access to (groups of) guests, may do so by contacting the C&CZ helpdesk, tel. 20000. As of December 1, the SMS codes will also be available through the Library of Science.

Matlab mobile for iPhone/iPad and Android

Matlab Mobile is a lightweight Matlab desktop for iPhone/iPad and Android, that connects to a Matlab session running on MathWorks Cloud or on your computer. From smartphone or tablet, typical Matlab tasks like evaluating commands, running scripts, creating and manipulating plots and figures, and viewing results can be performed. Custom keyboards on iOS and Android help to easily enter Matlab syntax. To use it, install the app from the App Store or Play Store and create a Mathworks account with
an email address ending in: @science.ru.nl, @student.science.ru.nl, @donders.ru.nl, @pwo.ru.nl,
@let.ru.nl, @fm.ru.nl, @ai.ru.nl, @socsci.ru.nl, @ru.nl, @student.ru.nl or @radboudumc.nl .

MS Office 2016 on Install network share

The most recent version of Microsoft Office, 2016, is available on the Install network share. The license permits installation of this version on university computers. License codes can be requested from C&CZ helpdesk or postmaster. For privately owned computers you can order this software relatively cheap at Surfspot.

Online surveys: New version of LimeSurvey, login with Science account

A new version of LimeSurvey has been installed, along with some new and modern templates. It is no longer necessary to request a login, any Science account can log in now.
More information about LimeSurvey...

Do not fall for phone scam

Today we received messages from a few employees, that they had received cold phone calls from persons offering help with computer problems, or who told them that they could see everything the employee did on the computer. *Do not fall for this, do not answer their questions, do not take the actions they request.* In case of doubt, please refer them to C&CZ.

New version of OriginLab (2015, 9.2)

A new version (2015, 9.2) of OriginLab, software for scientific graphing and data analysis, can be found on the Install-disk. The license server has been upgraded to this version. Departments that take part in the license can request installation and license info from C&CZ, also for standalone use. Installation on C&CZ managed PCs still has to be planned. Departments that want to start using OriginLab should contact C&CZ.

Matlab R2015b available

The latest version of Matlab, R2015b, is available for departments that have licenses. The software and license codes can be obtained through a mail to postmaster for those entitled to it. The software can also be found on the install-disc. All C&CZ-managed Linux machines will soon have this version installed, an older version (/opt/matlab-R2015a/bin/matlab) is still available temporarily. The C&CZ-managed Windows machines will not receive a new version during the semester to prevent problems with version dependencies in current lectures. The R2015b release is the last version for 32-bit Windows. R2016a will support 64-bit Windows, but not 32-bit Windows.

Maple new version: Maple2015

The latest version of Maple, Maple2015, is available as of today on all C&CZ managed Linux PC's and will be available shortly on all Windows PC's.
The license of Maple is a 5-user license. Of these, 4 are financed by the Faculty of Science departments EHEF and THEF. Because 1 license is paid by C&CZ, all FNWI employees and students are allowed to use Maple once in a while. If you want to use Maple more often, please contact C&CZ. The software can be found on the Install network share. License codes can be obtained from C&CZ helpdesk or postmaster.

Online Matlab course

If you want to learn Matlab interactively, at your own pace, visit
the Matlab Academy and create an account with
an email address ending in: @science.ru.nl, @student.science.ru.nl, @donders.ru.nl, @pwo.ru.nl,
@let.ru.nl, @fm.ru.nl, @ai.ru.nl, @socsci.ru.nl, @ru.nl or @student.ru.nl and use the
Activation Key that you can get from C&CZ if your department
takes part in the campus Matlab license.

National Instruments LabVIEW Fall 2015 on Install network share

To make it easier to install NI LabVIEW for departments that participate in the license, the newly arrived "Fall 2015" version has been copied to the Install network share. License codes can be obtained from C&CZ helpdesk or postmaster.

Wireless network FNWI much improved in coverage and capacity

In the past months, the number of wireless access points in the Huygens building, Mercator 1 and HFML has been much increased, from 97 to 219. Almost all of these access points also support the new 802.11ac standard. This has much improved both coverage and capacity of the wireless network 'eduroam' in these buildings. To make sure that both coverage and capacity is optimal in important locations, the ISC will take measurements in the next weeks. We also ask users within FNWI that still have problems with the wireless network, to report this to the C&CZ helpdesk (). Where necessary, adjustments will then be made. More information about the wireless network can be found at the ISC website. The other FNWI buildings will get an upgrade in 2016, if budget is available.

Wireless network ru-guest will be replaced September 10 by eVA

As of September 10, the wireless network 'ru-guest' will no longer be available. Guests of Radboud University can now use the wireless network 'eduroam' through 'eVA' (eduroam Visitor Access). All employees and students of FNWI can request one or more eVA guest accounts at the C&CZ helpdesk (). When requesting eVA accounts please supply your mail address and your mobile number. More information on eVA can be found at the SURF website.

ArcGIS 10.3.1 available

A campus license of ArcGIS 10.3.1 is available. ArgGIS is being installed on all pcs in the computer labs. On request, it can be installed on managed Windows 7 pc's as well. Setup files and installation instructions are available on the Install network share for home use by students and employees. Home users need to setup a VPN connection in order to reach the license server.

MS Windows 10 on Install network share

The most recent version of Microsoft Windows, 10, is available on the Install network share. The license permits upgrade to this version on university computers. License codes can be requested from C&CZ helpdesk or postmaster. For privately owned computers you can order this software relatively cheap at Surfspot.

New employee systems development and administration: Simon Oosthoek

Information session: "Onderwijs in Beeld" becomes "Weblectures"

Monday June 29, from 12:30 to 13:30 (sharp), in LIN1 (Linnaeus building).

We hereby cordially invite you to the information session about the new weblectures system which will become operational at the Faculty of Science in September 2015. This new Radboud University service will replace the current Onderwijs in Beeld system for recording lectures and viewing the recordings. In a presentation we will zoom in on what this means for you: what will change for students and lecturers and what are the new features when your course is recorded.

C&CZ day out: Tuesday July 14

New version of Mathematica (10.1.0)

A new version of Mathematica (10.1.0) has been installed on all C&CZ managed Linux systems, older versions can still be found in /vol/mathematica. The installation files for Windows, Linux and Apple Mac can be found on the Install-disk, also for older versions of Mathematica. Departments that take part in the license can request installation and license info from C&CZ.

Watch out! Scammers send mail on behalf of Ziggo

Since a couple of weeks, people receive e-mails that seem to be sent by cable company Ziggo, but which in reality are phishing mails, sent by Internet criminals. The subject of the email is "Uw betalingstermijn is verstreken" (Your payment has expired). The e-mail suggests that the recipient has an invoice open and threatens with collection costs. The purpose of such a fraud is to persuade the recipient to click on a link or open an attachment. For more information about this particular scam, see dichtbij.nl. This time it's fake e-mails on behalf of Ziggo, but other crooks are active too. A useful website that provides information on scams is fraudehelpdesk.org.

MS Visio and MS Project license ends

MS Visio and MS Project are no longer part of the previously announced new agreement 2015-2017 between SURFmarket and Microsoft. Both Visio and Project have a grace period of 1 year, which means that previously installed versions of these products may be used until the end of 2015 at no additional cost. To avoid surprises by January 2016, C&CZ will already remove Visio and Project from C&CZ Managed pcs at the end of July, during the summer break.

Recently C&CZ hears from users that they receive mail from mail addresses they know with subjects like "You have a new notification from ... View?" or "... is waiting for your response. Respond?" or "I would like to add you as a friend". Accept?" The link (URL) in these mails points to something in "flipmailer dot com" or "infoaxe dot com". Clicking the link results in the installation of a spyware plugin/add-on/extension in the browser Firefox/Chrome/... If you fill in your mail-password on their website, all your contacts will get the same fake invitation. Do not fall for this! If you have responded to these mails, please contact the C&CZ helpdesk or search the Internet what to do to remove the spyware, such as deze how-to-remove-fliporainfoaxenet-spam-extension.

Linux login server lilo will point to lilo4

The name lilo, that always points to the advized login server, will be moved on Wednesday May 6 from the more than three year old lilo3 to the newer lilo4. This is a small step in the upgrade to Ubuntu 14.04. During the summer break the computer labs will be (re)installed with Ubuntu 14.04 LTS.
Please remove the old entry of lilo(.science.ru.nl) from your ~/.ssh/known_hosts file. For cautious people wanting to check the fingerprint of the public RSA key before supplying their Science-password to the new server: aa:ad:c0:2e:60:9d:d3:cd:ca:a4:59:7d:d0:d8:4c:68. The name stitch for the second loginserver, that can be used if there is a problem with lilo, will be moved on May 6 to the older lilo3.

Eduroam with username without @ will end April 28

As of April 28, it is no longer possible to use the wireless Eduroam network with only a U- or S-number as username, without appending the domain @ru.nl. Until then, this works, but only on RU campus, because the RU RADIUS server then assumed the RADIUS realm @ru.nl. When one uses a username with a RADIUS realm like @ru.nl or @science.ru.nl, one can use Eduroam at all Eduroam connected institutions. How to add the RADIUS realm @ru.nl to your Eduroam settings can be found in the ISC announcement.

National Instruments LabVIEW on Install network share

To make it easier to install NI LabVIEW for departments that participate in the license, all DVDs of the "Spring 2015" version have been copied to the Install network share. License codes can be obtained from C&CZ helpdesk or postmaster.

Matlab R2015a available

The latest version of Matlab, R2015a, is available for departments that have licenses. The software and license codes can be obtained through a mail to postmaster for those entitled to it. The software can also be found on the install-disc. The C&CZ-managed 64-bit Linux machines will soon have this version installed, an older version (/opt/matlab-R2014b/bin/matlab) is still available temporarily. The C&CZ-managed Windows machines will not receive a new version during the semester to prevent problems with version dependencies in current lectures.

Lowering printing prices

Printing prices, for black&white als well as color, have been lowered, in accordance with the campus-wide printing prices. Reason for this reduction in cost is the fact that the total number of pages printed at Radboud University exceeded expectations and also that the fixed costs for the printing infrastructure were less than estimated beforehand. See also our printing information page

Renewal WiFi network Huygens and Mercator 1

During the period between March 23th and April 20th 2015, the WiFi network (Eduroam and RU-guest) will be renewed in the Huygens building, its surroundings and in Mercator 1 (floors 0-4).
All existing access points are going to be replaced by a new type and the number of access points will be expanded to increase the bandwidth, coverage and capacity.
The work involved will be performed by JS Network Solutions, commissioned by the ISC and under the direction of the UVB. Although the employees of JS will work mainly in the corridor areas, access to some offices and/or labs is necessary, of course after consulting the residents, secretariats and lab-managers. The work will start in Huygens wing 1 towards wing 8 and will finish in Mercator 1.
The renewal of the WiFi network in the other faculty buildings is expected to take place in 2016.
For further information, please contact Marcel Kuppens.

Join us to create ScienceClips

We are looking for lecturers who would like to experiment with video for their lectures.
On the ScienceClips website we have collected more information and some examples of the possibilities.
Are you interested in creating a ScienceClip for your course or would you like to join the pilot project with your own
concept/idea? Please contact Caspar Terheggen, C&CZ.

PC labs upgrade to Ubuntu 14.04 during summer break

During the summer break the operating system of all PCs in the PC labs will be upgraded from Ubuntu 12.04 to Ubuntu 14.04. This might have an effect on software used
in courses. You can test your software on the login server lilo4, which is already running Ubuntu 14.04.

IMAP mail server upgrade next monday night

The IMAP server will be replaced by a new server next Monday night. During the night, no Science mail can be read from the server, because then the most recent mails will be synchronized to the new server.
Mail can be sent in this period, but new mail will start being delivered on the new server from 07:30. A word of warning, one could login on the old server with the first 8 characters of the password, the new server only accepts the full password.

Save your SURFspot product safe before March 1!

SURFspot announced that the product safe will disappear in the transition to a new web shop platform. The product safe contains installation codes and download links of your download order(s). You need these data when you for example:
- Still have credit facilities (for example you have purchased an antivirus for 5 PCs and only installed on 2 PCs yet).
- Your computer crashes, you can reinstall the software with the information from your product safe.

New service: GitLab version control

GitLab is available as a successor to our Subversion service. GitLab is an open source code collaboration platform, git repository manager, issue tracker and code reviewer. Students and employees of the faculty can register on https://gitlab.science.ru.nl with their Science login. It is possible to transfer projects from svn to GitLab.

Apple Mac-software: Office 2011 SP1 and ATLAS.ti

For Apple Macs there is a new (SP1) version of the Microsoft Office 2011 software and a first version of the ATLAS.ti Qualitative Data Analysis software available on the Install network share. License codes are available from C&CZ helpdesk or postmaster. According to the site license, this software may be installed on all computers owned by the RU without additional costs. For home use of this software, staff and students can visit SurfSpot.

Adobe Creative Cloud software

Adobe Creative Cloud is the successor to Creative Suite. The Adobe Creative Cloud software is available on the Install network share. License codes are available from C&CZ helpdesk or postmaster. According to the site license, this Adobe Creative Cloud for Enterprise (Specified Apps Only Non-Video) may be installed on all computers owned by the RU without additional costs. For home use of this software, staff and students can visit SurfSpot. The software consists of the following components: Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Dreamweaver, Muse Pro, Acrobat Pro, Bridge, Encore, Fireworks, Flash Builder Premium, InCopy, Media Encoder, Edge Animate, Edge Code (preview) and Edge Reflow (preview).

For a supplement of € 15.68 ex VAT per year per installation, one has the Adobe Institution Bundle (Add-On), with the packages: Photoshop Elements, Premiere Elements, Captivate and Presenter.

For a supplement of € 31.35 ex VAT per year per installation, one has the Upsell Adobe Creative Cloud Enterprise (Add-On), with the packages: After Effects, Premiere Pro, Audition, Flash Professional, Lightroom, Prelude and SpeedGrade.

Maple license continued as 5-user license

The license of Maple has been continued as a 5-user license. Of these, 4 are financed by the Faculty of Science departments EHEF and THEF. Because 1 license is paid by C&CZ, all FNWI employees and students are allowed to use Maple once in a while. If you want to use Maple more often,
please contact C&CZ.

SURFdrive: safer than Dropbox

The ISC has announced that SURFdrive is available for RU employees. This gives a maximum of 100 GB of Dropbox-like storage for work-related files, that should not have the security classification critical or sensitive. Data is stored within Dutch borders, the users remain the owners of their own data, and SURF itself provides no information to third parties, which makes SURFdrive more secure than Dropbox. Earlier SURF made SURFfilesender available, with which you can send larger files more secure than with alternatives like WeTransfer.

Maple license temporarily continued

The license of Maple has been temporarily continued with a 5 user license. This gives IMAPP and C&CZ some time to find other departments that are willing to contribute financially to such a license. This would cost 900 € per year excl. VAT. Interested? Please contact C&CZ.

Euroglot 8 on Install network share, new license without home use

The most recent version (8) of the Euroglot translation software, is available on the Install network share. License codes, valid until January 1 2016, can be requested from the helpdesk. Home use has been removed from this license. For home use you can buy a private license relatively cheap at Surfspot.

Total Vodafone coverage in Huygens with first Ericsson Radio Dot in the world

Coverage for mobile phones on the Vodafone network, as used for Vodafone Wireless Office has been extended to the basements and transport corridors of the Huygens building. This became possible, because Ericsson and Vodafone were interested in doing a pilot in the Huygens building with the first live enterprise deployment of the Radio Dot system worldwide. This is in addition to the distributed antenna system built in 2011, which was necessary because of the similarity of the Huygens building with a Faraday cage. This reminds some veterans of June 1987, when a pilot was carried out at the Faculty of Science by PTT (now KPN), Philips, SURF and the university with the first PABX with a large amount of data traffic in The Netherlands. This PABX is still in use for speech phone calls in the periphery of the Huygens building.

Student.ru.nl and fnwi.ru.nl mail also accessible through Roundcube

During the weekend of November 12, 13 and 14, the ISC will move the mail of @student.ru.nl from the old
RU Share service
to the new RU Exchange service.
This can be accessed with a browser via RU Exchange webmail, but also via C&CZ Roundcube webmail, by choosing mail.ru.nl in the drop-down menu. Advantages of Roundcube are that you can set multiple sender addresses (via Settings->Identities) and that the Science LDAP addressbook is available, which contains all Science staff and students. The RU Exchange AD address book has very little FNWI scientific staff. Furthermore Roundcube has a more powerful and modern interface independent of the browser used. You can also leave out the extra RU\ before the U- or S-number when logging in. A disadvantage w.r.t. the standard Outlook Web Access might be that Roundcube does not have calendar support, it is only an IMAP mailclient.

Notice of change in Microsoft licenses as of 2015

The ISC let us know that by January 1, 2015 there will be a new licensing agreement with Microsoft through Surfmarket. The main difference appears to be that the license for Microsoft Office on Windows PCs owned by the University, will be followed by a license for Office 365 Plan E3 (formerly A3) for all RU staff. This will most likely mean that installing Office on Windows PCs and iPads/iPhones that are private property of RU staff will be possible under the license as of January 1, 2015. More information will follow in the first quarter of 2015.

Again phishing mails: "WAARSCHUWING" by "Admin"

In the past few days, a dozen students and staff of the Faculty of Science fell for a phishing email again. In broken Dutch the email stated that the mailbox was almost full. The subject often was "WAARSCHUWING" and the sender called himself "Admin". The mail contained a link to a counterfeit Science webmail page hosted by http://www.heliohost.org/ , a provider of free websites. On this website everybody could read the login names and passwords of everybody who reacted to the phishing email. C&CZ has blocked these logins and asked the sysadmins of HelioHost to remove the website. Do not fall for phishing emails, it causes inconvenience to yourself and others!

Disks xpsoftware and xpcursus renaming to software and cursus

The network sharesxpsoftware and xpcursus, that many PC's use, have been renamed to software and cursus. The old names still work until Monday, January 5th 2015. These disks are also mounted as software share S-drive and course software share T-drive on PC's managed by C&CZ. Lecturers can manage their course software on the T-drive themselves.

End of SSLv3 protocol

Because of vulnerabilities in the SSLv3 security protocol, C&CZ has switched off support for this protocol on all C&CZ managed web servers. A secure connection will thus use the successor protocol TLS. Browsers like Chrome, Internet Explorer and Firefox will each sooner or later stop supporting SSLv3. There is information on how to manually adjust settings to eliminate the vulnerabilities immediately. This can however lead to problems with websites that need SSLv3, such as BASS. P.S.: as of mid-December BASS can be used without SSLv3.

Old aliases for mailserver will be removed December 1

C&CZ will remove the aliases for imap, imap-srv, imap-server, pop, pop-srv, pop-server, smtp, smtp-srv and smtp-server for domains cs , math, nmr, sci and theochem as of December 1. The automatic configuration of mailclients only uses post.science.ru.nl and smtp.science.ru.nl , as one should do when manually configuring a mailclient. Since the certificate of the mailserver is not valid for these old aliases, it raised security questions.

Maple license terminated January 1, 2015

Because Maple is no longer used in the Faculty of Science education and the use has decreased, C&CZ intends to terminate the Maple license per January 1, 2015. Should this lead to problems, please contact C&CZ.

Terminal server ts2 and print server drukker from NWI to B-FAC

Due to decommissioning of the NWI.RU.NL Active Directory domain, on November 16 the terminal server ts2 and the printer server for departmental printers drukker will be moved from NWI.RU.NL to B-FAC.RU.NL. This change is of consequence for logging on to the terminal server ts2 and for connecting to printers from the print server drukker.

If you are logging on to the terminal server ts2 using NWI\loginname, you will have to change this to B-FAC\loginname.
In the case of the print server drukker, if connecting to printers using \\drukker.nwi.ru.nl\printername, you have to change this to \drukker.b-fac.ru.nl\\printername. The easiest way to do this is to remove and reconnect the printer from the server.

Email addresses and passwords captured

The CERT-RU has sent a warning mail to the 600 ru.nl mail addresses that were in the list of 1.3 million captured Dutch accounts. That ru.nl mail address has apparently been used as a registration address in some website, that has been hacked. You must assume that passwords that have been used in such a hacked site are now known to Internet criminals. Therefore, you should never use that password anywhere again. Furthermore, everyone is advised to use different passwords for different websites/applications. Often you do not even have to remember these passwords, as they can be easily reset. In other cases, you can use a password vault such as KeePass, which is available for Windows, Apple, Android and Linux.

Matlab R2014b available

The latest version of Matlab, R2014b, is available for departments that have licenses. The software and license codes can be obtained through a mail to postmaster for those entitled to it. The software can also be found on the install-disc. The C&CZ-managed 64-bit Linux machines will soon have this version installed, an older version (/opt/matlab-R2014a/bin/matlab) is still available temporarily. The C&CZ-managed Windows machines will not receive a new version during the semester to prevent problems with version dependencies in current lectures.

Secure network for vulnerable pcs attached to equipment

Often PCs attached to expensive measuring equipment do not get software updates, because the risk is too high that afterwards there is a problem with the equipment. In those cases C&CZ network administration can help by isolating the PCs on a separate shielded network, with specific rules for the network traffic allowed to and from that network segment. It is possible to write data to a network drive, that can be read (but not written) from other locations. Also traffic to the C&CZ printer server can be allowed, so no local printer is necessary. Departments such as Microbiology, HFML and FELIX have been using this shield for years. A recent vulnerability that is a huge risk for for Linux systems without software updates, is Shellshock. Windows systems will be very vulnerable unless they have the Microsoft patches that are published on Patch Tuesday.

New version of OriginLab (9.1)

A new version (9.1) of OriginLab, software for scientific graphing and data analysis, can be found on the Install-disk. The license server has been upgraded to this version. Departments that take part in the license can request installation and license info from C&CZ, also for standalone use. Installation on C&CZ managed PCs still has to be planned. A new maintenance contract untill August 2017 has been signed with the supplier.

Shakespeak: online voting and asking questions during presentations

As of today, Radboud University has a license to use Shakespeak. Shakespeak is a plugin for Powerpoint, which lets you add a question or vote to a slide. Students can give their votes or comments (Internet, Twitter and SMS) and the results are directly available in your presentation. More questions:

Eduroam problems and site survey

There are again complaints about the wireless network Eduroam, with authentication as well as with coverage. In case of problems with RU authentication (, , ...) one can try the alternative To improve coverage in the Huygens building, Ronald Versteeg of JS Network Solutions will be measuring in the entire Huygens building for the next four weeks. For restricted access areas he will consult with C&CZ Network admins and/or the appropriate department.The ISC network department will base improvement plans on the results of that site survey.

C&CZ invites everyone to report problems with the wireless and wired network to

New version of Mathematica (10.0)

A new version of Mathematica (10.0) has been installed on all C&CZ managed Linux systems. The installation files for Windows, Linux and Apple Mac can be found on the Install-disk. Departments that take part in the license can request installation and license info from C&CZ.

Temporary computer lab in HG00.625/629

Due to the increased number of students, a new computer lab will be realized in HG00.625/629. This space becomes available through the relocation of FEZ to Mercator 1, fourth floor. Because no decision has been made about the final layout of wing 6, a temporary facility will be realized. There will be 42 student and one instructor PC, type HP EliteOne 800 G1 (All-in-One, i5-4570S Core, 2.9GHz, 8GB, 23 inch widescreen LCD monitor, sound), dual boot with Windows and Linux (Ubuntu). This computer lab should be ready early November.

Compute clusters today

With the purchase of a.o. a server with 3072 GB RAM by ICIS with funds from the RRF, the C&CZ-managed cn compute cluster has grown to 1324 cores and 7914 GB RAM. The Astrophysics coma cluster, with 320 cores, 240 TB fileserver storage, GPU's and fast Infiniband interconnect is a separate cluster. For more info, see the cn compute cluster page.

Intel compilers new version

C&CZ has bought two licences for concurrent use of the most recent version of the Intel Cluster Studio for Linux. This has been installed in /vol/opt/intelcompilers and is available on a.o. clusternodes en loginservers. The old (2011) version will also be moved to /vol/opt/intelcompilers. To set the environment variables correctly, users must first run: